.@srschrier @CNN finally: militia moved out, apparent Ukr workers moved in. Bodies from #mh17 being loaded onto trucks as is luggage.
— Chris Cuomo (@ChrisCuomo) July 19, 2014
Fragments of someone's life destroyed - a vinyl collection among the sunflowers. #MH17 pic.twitter.com/6SpiRhMb5Y
— Kevin Bishop (@bishopk) July 19, 2014
Disturbing signs of coverup activities on MH17 shooting down. But we will not rest until all facts are established. http://t.co/AlBTY9Xiop
— Carl Bildt (@carlbildt) July 18, 2014
We are now closing our live blog for today. Don't forget that you can keep abreast of all our Ukraine coverage here.
Good morning. We will start the live blog today with this update from our news desk:
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has stressed that investigators must be given full access to the site of the Malaysia Airlines crash in Ukraine.
The State Department says Kerry made the remark in a phone call on July 19 with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
Kerry also said the United States is "very concerned" over reports that the remains of victims and debris from the site of the crash on July 17 that killed 298 people have been removed or tampered with.
Kerry said Washington was also concerned over denial of "proper access" to the crash site in eastern Ukraine for monitors from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and international investigators.
Kyiv has accused pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine near the crash site of interfering with the investigation by removing victims' bodies and parts of the airplane.
(AFP, Reuters)
There it is. The smoking rocket launcher tied back to Russia. http://t.co/NhviNrMIm8
— Blake Hounshell (@blakehounshell) July 20, 2014
#MH17at crash scene where bodies have been removed.Rebels say to Torez town nearby.
— Fergal Keane (@fergalkeane47) July 20, 2014
Reuters: Railway workers say bodies from site where #MH17 crashed were loaded into refrigerator wagons at station in Torez, 15 km away.
— Steve Herman (@W7VOA) July 20, 2014
#OSCE mission checking "the train of death"#MH17 pic.twitter.com/PWa4FwLw3n
— Mircea Barbu (@mirceabarbu) July 20, 2014
The grimmest of graveyards - my Mail on Sunday report from Ukraine on the shocking & sickening scenes of desecration http://t.co/Tps9lDw4Rt
— Ian Birrell (@ianbirrell) July 20, 2014
Our news desk has issued this item on what is happening to the bodies from the crash site:
Reports today claim that more than 190 bodies of the 298 people aboard the downed Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 have been taken from the field in eastern Ukraine where they had been lying since July 17.
Both Russian and Ukrainian news agencies are reporting that at least 196 bodies have been removed from the crash site.
Some reports said it was unclear where the bodies had been taken but the Reuters news agency said railway workers claimed at least some of the bodies had been taken to refrigeration wagons at the train station in Torez, some 15 kilometers from the crash site.
Ukrainian emergency services spokeswoman Nataliya Bystro said government workers and rebels had gathered 196 bodies but she added that the rebels then took to the bodies to an unknown location.
Russian TV channel Rossiya 24 reported the bodies had been taken to the morgue in the city of Donetsk.
There were also reports that a local separatist leader -- Andrei Purgin, the deputy premier of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic -- has given a guarantee of safety to international experts to visit the site of the crash if Kyiv agrees to a truce.
Meanwhile, memorial services have been held in Australia to honor those killed on the Malaysian airliner over eastern Ukraine.
Twenty-eight of the 298 people on the plane were Australians, while eight more were permanent residents of the country.
Prime Minister Tony Abbott, who attended a Catholic mass in Sydney, spoke of the nation's anguish, saying there would hardly be any Australians who hadn't been emotionally touched by the tragedy.
In Melbourne, a special mass was held for the HIV/AIDS experts and campaigners who had boarded the Malaysia Airlines flight as they made their way to that city for an international AIDS conference.
(AFP, AP, ITAR-TASS, Interfax, UNIAN, Reuters)